by rdale » Sat Jul 30, 2005 12:22 am
Have you tried six max?
I bet spending a few weeks playing that style of game will help you see the light. You can open up a lot more with Ax KT and 75s 78o type hands depending on the table you are playing those hands might be worth a raise preflop. People are always harping on not having direct pot odds but with a good understanding of implied odds you can play more "creatively" with drawing hands. It is also a myth that the blinds coming around faster makes it more expensive to play, as the button and cutoff comes around faster too so you have position a lot more. If nothing else your hand reading skills should get better, and it is fun to attempt to find and exploit each opponents weakness.
Even though betting the best hand and people calling too much is still the lower stakes money maker, I find room to open up and play tricky at times. Most of my LAGish play is in unraised pots in position, or raising a post oak bluffer that can lay down middle or bottom pair. I save raising the speculative hands for when I'm dominating the table and have them scared of my tight aggressive play. When the action is typically going I raise, one or two call, I bet 1/3 of the pot and they fold with out TPTK or a set or massive draw.